Daniel Ziblatt, a democracy scholar at Harvard, cautions the CDU and CSU against loosening the wall that keeps the Alternative for Germany (AfD) out of government.
He told the German news magazine “Der Spiegel” that forming coalitions with the AfD in eastern German states would be “high risk” and so would a minority Union government at the federal level that tolerated the far‑right party. Ziblatt compared this to the United States, where mainstream Republicans hoped they could bring Trump to power and then keep him in check-a strategy that ultimately failed.
Ziblatt co‑authored the book “How Democracies Die” with Harvard colleague Steven Levitsky. The professor also heads the “Transformations of Democracy” department at the Berlin Institute for Social Research.
According to Ziblatt, the Union would be more successful politically if, in compromise with its potential coalition partner the Social Democratic Party (SPD) or other centrist parties, it crafted concrete solutions to everyday problems faced by Germans. “The forces in the center must offer renewal, not just defend the old” he said.
He warned German universities and researchers-whose own institution has been under attack from the Trump administration for months-to prepare for a potential AfD takeover. “If in German states similar forces come to power as seen here, similar attacks on science and universities can be expected” he cautioned. “These institutions should already seek partners in society-trade unions, businesses, churches-who can help them in the future”.
Ziblatt sees his own country under immediate threat. “The United States has moved toward an authoritarian regime more rapidly than I ever expected” he told “Der Spiegel”. “No such broad assault on democracy has ever occurred in the history of the United States”. Within twelve months, he argues, the country has become a “fragile” democracy, akin to Hungary or Turkey. “There is still a political contest for power, but it is being distorted in favor of the incumbents”.
